Monthly Archives: March 2015

Sometimes it all sucks. Sometimes it’s just all a little too much. No details but the past week was miserable and today was like a bonus layer of expletive filled moments. I desperately needed to relieve the frustration and tension, and when I came home, I was intending to have a good cry and maybe a nap. Instead I caught sight of the bare root rose bush sitting on my porch. Rose bush + pot + soil = therapy.

This is what she should look like in a few weeks.

Ever since I moved out of my house I’ve missed having flowerbeds. Antique roses, various herbs, honeysuckle vines. I miss playing in the dirt. I miss seeing the growth of new leaves, the tight buds that unfurl into vibrant flowers, seeing the plants thrive and knowing I had a hand in that. Ha! Dirt covered hands.

So that’s what I did to expend some frustration. I scooped soil into the waiting pot, got my hands all into it, unwrapped the plant that’s been sprouting leaves despite lack of soil, and I put her in a roomy new home. She’s a lovely little hybrid tea rose – yellow with red tipped petals – I can’t wait to see her in bloom. I set her between the plumeria and aloe – she’ll get a lot of sun light but not too much water – which I’ve noticed comes off the eaves of the new place in buckets (apparently we don’t believe in gutters here).

So yes, I felt immensely better after getting some fresh air and dirt time. I put away the potting soil and came in to wash my hands. Then I saw the various plants crowding my kitchen window sill; a succulent collection outgrowing its original pot, the friendship cactus that needed new soil, lots of ivy and some dracaena rooting in the fish bowls. Oh and there’s that schefflera that’s been growing roots in a bottle in my bedroom. They all suddenly needed attention – the therapy continued.

Ivy thriving in the betta fish bowl

The schefflera was potted into soil and still happily fits on my bedroom window sill. All the succulents and cactus were consolidated into one larger pot that occupies most of the kitchen window sill. The dracaena stalks were put into a more becoming container and just fits next to the cactus, but I left the ivies in the fish bowls because the fish seem to like it as much as the plants.

The succulents have growing room now. A happy kitchen window.

More dirt time. More contentment. More frustration purged and tension relieved. More life given to the green growing things that grace my home with their unassuming beauty and gentle simplicity. I’m not saying all the problems of the last week have been swept away and forgotten, but a little green therapy has gone a long way to clear my perspective and restore a sense of balance.

Hmm, maybe I need to create an herb garden or grow some veggies in the backyard. Green therapy seems to work for me.